Episode 12 Sarah Holtz - Founder of Simplicity with Sarah

This week, Rashelle Newmyer welcomes the incredible Sarah Holtz, a former educator turned entrepreneur, cancer fighter, and kidney transplant survivor. Her journey is one of resilience, reinvention, and real-life community miracles.  She brought the wine and the wisdom to this conversation. We’re sipping on a velvety Barbera from Cascade Cliffs (pro tip: if you’re in Hood River or The Dalles, go visit, and mention Nancy). 

Sarah opens up about the moment that changed her life, a routine birthday blood test that led to a shocking diagnosis of stage 5 kidney disease. At just 30 years old, while teaching full time, Sarah found herself navigating a world of biopsies, dialysis, and ultimately, the search for a living kidney donor. She shares how she stayed strong through 670+ dialysis treatments, how social media helped her find her donor (yes, really!), and how she never let the diagnosis define her future. 

We discuss what real support looks like long after the crisis headlines fade, how to show up for people when you’re unsure what to say, and the importance of thoughtful, quiet check-ins when the world moves on but healing is still ongoing.

We also dive into her transition from teaching to business ownership, the unexpected shutdown of her Epicure business, and how she found purpose in launching her new brand: Simplicity with Sarah Holtz.

Whether you're a small business owner, transplant warrior, or just someone who needs a dose of hope, this episode will lift you up and leave you inspired.

Sarah’s motto: Simplify your life and elevate your joy, one step at a time. And that’s exactly what she’s doing. 

Interested in learning more about organ donation? Visit Donate Life America or https://www.organdonor.gov. 

Thank you for listening! Connect and collaborate with Realtor Rashelle on any of her social media platform pages > https://linktr.ee/RealtorRashelle

Transcript

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Welcome to the Realtor Who Wines podcast. I'm Rashelle Newmeyer, your hostess with the most as a student of life, a connector, a passionate wine enthusiast, and your local favorite guide. Join me as we explore the vibrant Pacific Northwest. Savor the finest wines and champion the spirit of entrepreneurship. Each episode, I'll sit down with inspiring guests, supporting business ownership and uncovering the stories that make this community unique. So grab a glass of wine, settle in, and let's embark on a journey of discovery and connection together. Cheers. Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the Realtor Who Wines podcast. I'm Rashelle, and I'm so happy you're here today. I have my very good friend with me, Sarah Holtz. Sarah, cheers to you. Thank you for being on. I appreciate you. Oh. That's delicious. Today, Sarah actually brought the wine. I tend to bring the wine, but she had one she wanted me to try. It's a Barbera, which we both love. Well, you go ahead and tell me a little bit about it. Why you brought it today? Sure. It comes from Cascade Cliffs, which is in Wine Country, their vineyard and tasting room is in Westrom. I think I'm saying that right. Yeah. And they have one in The Dalles, one in hood River. Two. Don't they have a tasting room in hood River? Yeah, as well. And contrary to the love of Barbera, I'm usually a white wine girl. Yeah. And so my mom and stepdad have me spoiled with the Barbara's because it's about the only. Right. All drink? Yeah, because it's smooth. Just rolls off the tongue. Really nice. But they are friends with the owners and managers there, and that's years ago. It just makes the guy busted. Yeah. I love I'm a sucker for that. Like, if I walk into a wine tasting room and the owners there or the winemakers there, or even like their mom or their sister or their grandma, I'm like, oh, I should buy all the wine because I want to support this family. I do that every time I think it tastes better. I'm just like, I know them. So now it tastes better. So anyways, thank you so much for being on today and thank you for bringing the wine. I appreciate it and it is delicious. So if you're ever out in The Dalles area or in hood River, definitely stop by and see Cascade clips for sure. Definitely great. And Tom Saracen, yeah, yeah. Or Sarah's mom. Mom, what's your name? Or Nancy? Tell them Nancy send check. Yes. They'll know just by Nancy. Yeah. They'll be like, Nancy. She's our favorite. Well, thank you for having me on today. This is a first for our podcast. And, yeah, chatting about my new business. I mean, yeah, I'm excited to share a lot of your story today. I wanted you on for multiple reasons. One, you're an entrepreneur local in the area. And you are transitioning and starting a brand new business such as exciting. And so I want to talk about that. And then I also want to talk about your health journey a little bit, too, because, you'll learn here in just a few minutes that Sarah has been going through quite the health journey over the last seven, ten years, and most people would use that as a reason. Not to start a new business or not to do anything different. And I love that you're just like, no, I'm doing this. I want a new business. I don't care what my health is doing. I'm moving forward. And I think that's such a powerful message. And I just admire you so much for having that kind of spirit. And, you know, I love you. So that's why I just wanted to share everything that you got going on. So do you want to start with the health stuff, or do you want to start with the new business stuff? A or whatever you feel? Because I was going to throw it right back at you and say, I admire you watching your stories all the time. I live vicariously through you. I'm like, I know this girl is a night owl, so when does she sleeps? She's bouncing city to city. She's mentoring people. She's helping people. She is just like the mom daughter relationship that I love to watch. And thank you. Yeah, I mean, it's a balance. I don't sleep as much as some people would probably recommend, so don't come for me in the comments of that. But, I get enough. Obviously I got the energy is gone. Let's talk about your health journey a little bit, because I think that really leads into your business and like where you are today. So why don't you start with the very first health situation and how it brought us to where we are right now? Yeah. So it was ten years ago. I was I was about ready to turn 30. And I remember telling even coworkers that spring birthdays in the summer and I'm like, oh, I can feel this energy. Something my 30s, different, something big is coming. I don't know what yet, but I just feel it on this level. It's coming. Well, I went it was either the day before my 30th birthday or on my 30th birthday to do annual blood tests. Just a checkup, which I encourage you to do. I know there's a lot of people out there that go, oh, I never go to the doctor. Well, at least once a year. Get your blood checked, get the basics, and, go from there. So I did that, and, must have been that week after my 30th birthday, I got a call and they said, we need to refer you to nephrology. I was like, what's that kid did? I went up price? Yes. What is that thing go. Oh, it was a price. All right. So, they said you need to be referred to a nephrologist, a kidney doctor. We're kind of concerned about your levels. Well, with me, I don't just sit back and wait for the phone call. I'm right. Next phone call. I'm calling like an actress. And they said, we haven't even got your referral yet. But sure, let's get you on the books for September. This was July, so I just want to stop you really quick because you're recommending that people get their bloodwork tested because you felt fine, like you would have had no idea anything was wrong without just this annual checkup. Correct? Yeah. So just anybody listening, even when you feel fine, you don't have to wait until something feels wrong. Just getting checked out once a year doesn't hurt. You know, if anything, it could save you. Yeah. So. And generally I felt well, I had for looking back, there was a lot of doctor's office visits for about 4 or 5 years before that of me telling them I don't feel good, something's off. And they would just dismiss it as one thing or another. Sure. And so but yeah, I wasn't showing any big signs of like, oh, I have a big ailment or anything, or I want to get my blood tested because of this. You're just getting checked out. Yeah. To. Correct. So I called like I need to get it. And they said September's our soonest and I'm like I need this done. Now get me on the waitlist. And yeah. And then it was probably about a half hour later they called back and they had received the information from the doctor's office and they said, we need to see you like next week. So of course, bells and whistles going off like, hang with me and fast forward through, doctor's appointments and biopsies that summer. And my first overnight hospitalization with them trying to figure out what's going on. When I went in for my doctor appointment to go over the results of the biopsy, I went in by myself, now I can do this. And I was like, you know, maybe I have lupus or something like that. And the doctor's like, you have stage five kidney disease, which means kidney failure. There's only five stages you're going to need a transplant or need are going to go on dialysis. And I look at her and I go, well, if I just eat better and exercise more when I go away, yeah, I know like 30. What do you mean? Yeah. So of course, me always bargaining. Well, if I do this the salesperson comes out. Yeah I negotiated that. Will it reverse it? Yeah. And and with kidney disease. That's why I encourage people to get their blood work done. Because in the beginning stages of kidney failure, there are habits or things you can do that will reverse it. But that's obviously stage five, two, eight too far gone. Yeah. So with that diagnosis, I'm like, well, crap, what do I what do I do? And long story short, I was very stubborn about at the time. I was teaching full time at three different schools at the secondary level, and I'm like, I am not going to let this disrupt my career, my life. I'm going to keep living. I don't want to. And personally, I was like, I'm scared of blood and needles. I don't want to sit in a chair three days a week with needles and all those things. So, I was very adamant that I was going to find a donor before I had to go on dialysis and come that December, everybody was like, Sarah, your skin tone is gray. You need to go on dialysis. Yeah. So I had surgery that winter break and I had a abdomen catheter put in, and I did peritoneal dialysis where you set up a machine every night, takes about 20 minutes to sterilize and set up. And the dialysis fluid will go into your abdomen, dwell there for about an hour and a half. Dwell back out and it repeats that cycle about 4 or 5 times a night. And starting out I think it was like 10 or 11 hours of dialysis I was doing and by the end I was up to about 13 or 14 hours a night of dialysis. I'd wake up the next day, go to work. Sometimes at work, I would need to do a manual bag in the closet. In between classes. Yeah, no big deal. I just popping into the janitor's closet here at school. Nothing to see here, kids? Nope, nope. Just talk amongst yourselves like. Yeah, or sometimes my abdominal catheter would fall out of my shirt. Yeah. Excuse me. Was like, It's probably not. Yeah. So they were right along on my journey with me, which was awesome. But in total, by the time, nine months after having my surgery, I started a Facebook page. I felt comfortable then to share my story, my big ask my journey. And because you ultimately you still wanted to have a transplant. Yes. And the waiting list in Oregon is 3 to 5 years for a deceased kidney. And everybody's so different. And for me I was not going to last 3 to 5 years on dialysis to get that deceased kidney. Also a deceased kidney average is 8 to 10 years transplanted, whereas a living donor is upwards of 14 to 16 years that a kidney will last. And so, I was on that hunt for the kidney. But in all up until my transplant, I had over 670 dialysis treatments. Oh, my gosh, so many. Yes. So that was that during and not I just want to point out to you, you can hear it in the audio that she's laughing and smiling, and then you can see it on camera that you just like approach this with such a positive outlook, like most people can be like. And then and then like a lot of times, and I'm not shaming anybody, that's a tough it's a tough journey to go on, and a lot of people do get stuck in that, like more storm cloud version of it. And that's just one thing I love about you, is that you just approach it all with like, a smile and a laugh like, well, now what? Might I already have this thing hanging out of my shirt? Okay. Moving on. What are we doing now? And realistic at that time with that health journey, I was in a darker place where it was. It hurt. It hurt it. Well, sure. Yeah. And there was those nights I'm like, just take me now. Or I was hospitalized many times while teaching, and I had a great support system between school and friends and family and community. With that journey that summer, before I found out I was getting my kidney, I physically felt my body shutting down. Yeah, it's weird feeling to to describe to someone unless they've gone. Felt the feeling of dying. And I don't want to worry my family, but it's like I was making secret memories that summer. So still living life and still trying to keep up no matter how tired I was. And and my body crashed in September. But reverse. A few weeks before that, I was surprised at a back to school professional development day when we were getting ready for a new school year, with a kidney donor. And she was a friend of a friend. Friend? Yeah. The power of social media people. Yes, I know some people are like, I hate social media. It does nothing but bad. Well, got Sarah kidney, right? So it's not that bad. It's not horrible. Change. Change your algorithm? Yes to. Yeah. Change what? You can to change. Yes, yes. And so she was also a teacher in a neighboring school district and saw my story and was like, she deserves to live. Absolutely. She went and did all the testing and she ended up being a better marker match than even if it was a family member that was able to donate. And so she's like, well, I want to surprise her in her setting in a school setting that's been the her, her family, school, family. And so they did a big surprise reveal that there was not a dry eye in the house. And she came out with a big sign that said, Will you be my kidney sister? And never had met her, knew who she was before. And so to this day we still are in contact and spent time with each other from time to time, and we consider each other kidney sisters. Yeah, I love that. Yeah. But she when my body had crashed and the September she called and said we need to get her in now for her transplant because we were slated for December for, you know, planning time. Yeah. Teachers were like, we'll do it on Christmas break when it doesn't affect I don't need to take extra days off now. Big deal. Right. Yeah. And so, she called them, said no, move it up. And so we had the surgery October 30th of 2017. And, the school was so sweet and some media coverage that had come in to try to help me find a kidney came in to to wrap up that part of the story and had my kidney transplant. And of course, I'm always, I should say, I'm the person that when they say, well, this rarely happens to somebody, I'm like, don't say that. Yeah, not gonna happen to me. That happened to me. And yeah, so I had two bonus surgeries within a couple weeks, the kidney transplant, because I had gained 50 pounds of water weight in a week and felt like just helps blueberry on Willy Wonka. Yeah. So, but that was back in 2017. And then fast forward life kind of got back into a good rhythm. But then they don't ever talk about what do you do post-transplant like because you're on medication to suppress your immune system for life. And so nowadays I have a lot of cognitive differences. But I didn't before. So just consistent brain fog or I can see a word in my mind but it won't come out. And just overall energy every day is different. And so eventually after 15 years in K through 12 education, I made the decision to, to leave and try to find something different that was going to be able to support my health the best. And I kind of got to a point where I was like, you know, that happened so long ago. It's almost like it was just a bad nightmare. And I didn't take it for granted. I feel like that's how a lot of people feel about any major life transition. Like, I mean, even thinking about Covid. Yeah, like the shutdown. That feels like it was a million years ago. Yes. Five years. Like, so like even. Yeah. Like when something happens to us personally or like that, that even happened. Yeah. Was that real life? What's going on? I always joke around too. Sometimes if I'm repeating myself a million times to my family, like, is this like a $0.06 moment? Am I dead and I don't know I'm dead? Why is no one paying attention? Like, is this your life? What is going on? So I always call myself Dory. I thought I thought it was bad with my anti-rejection meds of like, oh my gosh, did I already say this? Oh gosh, I can't remember things. And that's the most frustrating part that I know others can relate with that have cognitive issues due to medications or other health conditions as you're like, I am a smart person. Yeah, I just can't. It's not coming out right today and tomorrow it might. My body's not doing what I wanted to do. My brain's not doing what I want. That was like, yeah, it's so, so fast forward. I'm so excited. Every year it's exciting to celebrate the kidney transplant. I'm so sorry. Yeah, but then it's like catch 22 of oh my gosh, that's one year down. How many years do I have? And I hold on to those stories of hope that people have shared with me that they've had their kidney 25 years, 27 years, 30 years. So I'm like, okay, that's things happen. That's going to be me. I hold on that hope. Well, approaching the seventh year anniversary this past October, I was having excruciating pain in that area and something wasn't right. Was hospitalized and they said, oh, something going on with your small intestines, you need to go get that checked out. So I had gone in for a colonoscopy. And he came out and was like everything looks great. You don't have to come back for ten years. But there is this weird like tissue mass. But just to be sure I biopsy that. Nothing to worry about. And it was a week later he called me the day before Thanksgiving. I was helping in my friend's charcuterie shop. Like I am not unloving. I know I have, flu shot next week. Yeah, I don't need to answer this phone call. Well, later that evening I called him back and he. It was the gastroenterologist himself. He couldn't even get the words out. And I'm like, you're saying I have lymphatic cancer? And he says, yes, it came back. You have lymphatic cancer, which is a result of what's called old. Don't ask me what those stand for because I can't remember. I was not. What it boils down to is like post-transplant something disease. Yeah. And post transplant. Nasty. Nasty right. Yeah. Right. Just nastiness. So with anti-rejection drugs for kidney transplants, my big focus and worry and same with the rest of the transplant community. Is sunscreen like you can develop melanoma a lot easier on these medications. So that's always besides having in the back of your mind when that when is actually going to drop that I need a kidney again you're like, okay, I need to worry about melanoma and things like that. But it never was really in my mind that there was other cancers that could be caused by it. So what had happened is one, one or both. They were trying to figure out which one of my anti-rejection meds causes this lymphatic cancer, which is a blood cancer and is learning along the way. Even at the beginning, I'm like, I don't know. I don't know what the masses or this or that. But as we've learned along the way with oncologists, it's a soft tissue mass that I that the lymphatic cancer centralize and just decide to live in. So they're still trying to figure out what the soft tissue mass is. And it was in my lymph nodes in the abdomen. So blond moment. Me I thought your lymph nodes were I'm always like, touching my neck. And I'm like, yeah, my lymph nodes aren't swollen. Yeah. My armpits my lymph nodes aren't solid. And they're like, sir, you have lymph nodes in like your abdomen and everywhere else. And I'm like, oh yeah. And that's where that's where it was. And so yeah, fast forward a little bit. I was hospitalized with an obstruction because of the mass continuing to grow and blocking things. So lot of pain hospitalized. And through that they said, while you're here we're going to start immunotherapy. And they were very hopeful that that would knock out all the lymphoma and I wouldn't have to do chemo. Fast forward to January. Went in for a scan and they're like, well, your soft tissue mass is kind of grown in the cancer still, there. So we have to do chemo. And I instantly started sobbing and I was like, oh my gosh, I'm not going to have hair. Yeah, yeah. I've even been accustomed to it and embraced it. And yeah, I've actually loved all your wigs. Thank you. They've been amazing. You're right. That's one of my favorite ones now that I've directed. Awesome. For those of you listening and not watching, she did. Yeah she wigged but well and throughout all of that. So you're currently going through treatments and things in between the, kidney transplant and where you are now. You had started up a cure and you were doing like she had said. She decided to step back from teaching. And so she went into this whole new entrepreneur type role. And then epic recently closed doors. And so you've just shifted again. So talk a little bit about what business you're currently doing. And then we'll kind of take you back in. What's going on with your health. Sure. So when I left right as I was leaving education, I was introduced to Epicure, which was I'm gluten free, have been for ten years. So it was clean meal solutions and bakery items that were gluten free and you can make in about 20 minutes. Loved every part of it. Got into that business as I transitioned out of education. Was doing markets, vendor events, pop ups, online parties, online VIP groups, giving tips and tricks of cooking all the things. Yeah. And then with all this diagnosis thing, I also this kind of gives a little backstory to I'm a respite care for provider for adults with autism. That's my current main position and that helped the transition out of education as well. But I'm like, everything has to be on a pause for for me to get through this and to fight this because this is not my first rodeo. Right. And with that, with epic here it was, within two weeks of finding out I need to do chemo. All of a sudden, the trustees in Canada came in and locked the doors. And we're like, oh, what, what what do we do now? Yeah, yeah. Well then, for those of you that don't know, Epic Cara is a multi-level marketing, company. And so, like, think of, like, for people that might not be aware, but like tastefully Simple or Pampered Chef or Tupperware, Mary Kay, like all of those. And you really worked at your business not as a salesperson, but like, as a business owner, like you really ran your epic hair business, almost like you were epic hair, like it was your business. And I think that's why you were so successful and you approached markets differently. And parties and networking and stuff. You really presented yourself like she had, a slogan and a website, like all these things outside of Epicure that you were bringing to the table as like a business owner. And to cut it that leaving again, that business world or that business world, the education world. Yeah. Going into the business world. I wouldn't have known how to do a lot of that stuff if it wasn't for women, the women, because it was that January I was invited to a women to women event. I loved the camaraderie, the collaboration, all of that. And upon joining the women, the women and attending the virtual events, all those, in-person events where we connect. Yeah, was able to develop those business skills. Yeah. Women to Women Network is a, is a networking group that's more than just about networking. It's about collaboration and growth. And so we have about over 300 members now Sara is on leadership with Women to Women network, as am I. But we're in multiple states and growing. So if you have any questions, if you're a female entrepreneur or a businesswoman, you don't even have to be an entrepreneur, a woman in business. You can work for somebody, work for yourself. There's a place for everybody there. And Liz, the CEO and founder, also been on the podcast. So definitely I will link that podcast to this one to check it out, because Liz talks end up more about why I'm into women. But yeah, so it helped you really approach your business differently. It did. And it was at our national conference, inspired last September that I'm like, I know I meant to do more. How do I take the tool of epic care more to serve individuals better? And being a teacher, I'm always in that growth mindset or that self-reflection mindset, whether it's personal life or business life. How can I do better? Yeah. And I really wanted to get into maybe like a food coaching role or how do you take the tools? And it was just brewing in within me and the inspire. I knew I wanted to start something on my own, but just didn't know what yet. I knew I want to go into public speaking, you know, medical advocacy, business entrepreneurship, all those different things to represent. And it wasn't until epic here said we're closing our doors. I said, this is the time I need to pivot. And they closed their doors with just in a couple weeks of my first chemo treatment. So literally after my first chemo treatment, by Valentine's Day, I had already, created and solidified my own LLC. And talk a little bit about your LLC and, like, what you're doing. Yes. So, introducing this is new. All this is, is, simplicity with Sarah Holtz So starting Intuit, the purpose of simplicity with Sarah Holtz is simplify your life and elevate your joy one step at a time. Oh, I love that. So what I love is that I am working with small business owners that attend in-person events, whether it be a market, a pop up, a fair, any kind of in-person event where you're vendor at, I am there to help guide and elevate, maximize your success at that. You're at that event, even just grow your confidence and showing up as a business owner at those events. Yeah, at the same time, on social media on Sundays, giving everyone every day tips that anybody can glean from. So I'm really big on saving every penny I can with groceries. Yeah, with just a few. Doesn't need to save on groceries. I know anybody and everybody. When there's a when I can find that fruit, that sale on Uber for eggs, I'm like, hey, go to Uber and order your eggs on Uber this week because they're they're in the discount. So I want to appeal and still serve others in that wave with that education. So on my simplicity with Sarah Holtz on Instagram as well as Facebook and LinkedIn. I'm hoping to eventually get in a rhythm that each Sunday will be a simplify Sunday. That is an everyday tip that anyone can I love, that can take away from, glean from. And then on Tuesdays will be Tuesday tips where it's small business owners can gleam different tips and advice on how to elevate their vendor experience. Yeah. And you're talking to about like, not just what to do when you're at certain markets or vendor shows, but like how to choose the right ones or like where to spend your money and things like that, which I think is really important because a lot of people that have a product to take to like a farmer's market or like it's almost fair season, right? Like every state fair, county fair, all those things are going on. Like, how do you decide? Like, what do I spend the big bucks on a state fair? Or is it better for me to go to three county fairs, you know, things like that. And those are the kind of conversations you're having with everybody. Correct. And it's very interesting and kind of doing my market research or looking for other businesses, because I have yet to find someone else out there that's doing that specific, even niche. I'm sure there is. I just haven't found them yet. But gleaming from others of what I want to do versus what they do. As far as I will be very real with people, I'm not going to say, hey, I'm it'll be my yeah, I made this much this year selling at markets. Here's, here's my five tips that you can too. That's not my approach with this. My approach just being real and being like, you can have a very successful event or some of them flop because things that are out of your control. But how do you best show? So with my online course, I have six different modules that dive deep into that through video recording. So if you're an audio learner I have video replay teachers coming out. It is, it is so you can listen to it. I'm a listener. I love listening to the podcast as I'm making dinners, different things. Yeah, it'll have notes below and then cute Google Slides or whatever they call them, not slide visual. Yeah. Within the course as well as interaction, interactive piece of workbooks and things like that. And it's a six module course that talks like just what you were saying. I had so many people coming up to me, two random people one day, and that was my billboard moment to start. This business was, well, how do you find your markets? One of them was somebody that lived out of state. And I'm like, how do I advise on that? And I just said, have you checked your local high schools? Have you checked churches? Have you checked? Mark, Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of Commerce, all those different things. And they're like, wow, I never would have thought of that. Whereas for me it was just second hand. And so I took a step back going, whoa, this is my billboard moment, that yes, I need to start this business, but this is also where people may be coming from. So it does. It touches on how to find markets. Is this market worth it for me, not only for the value, for the pricing, but your values and your mission has to align with that as well. You don't want to just go to markets because there's an open spot. It needs to align with your core values as, for your business and then setting up your booth, your booth display to attract customers in, connecting and doing easy exchange of customers to have repeat customers or following up to give them good customer service after the market has ended. So we dive a lot into all those different things in the course. Also talk about just the conversations. I think some people, get nervous or don't know what to say. Like if someone doesn't walk up to their booth and you're very much like, hi, how are you? Like, you start conversations and I think you give a lot of confidence building in that with the conversations that you're happy. Yeah, with some of your clients and just gauging the audience, too. Like, you don't want to be like a little pushy that pops up. Hi, hi, hi. Every time, anytime someone say buy something, buy something, buy something. Oh, my gosh, my nine year old. You know this. My nine year old, she sells jewelry which is made by a nine year old. So it looks like a nine year old's jewelry. But when she's out markets and someone walks by, she has, you forgot to stop at my table. You forgot. And no one cares because she's nine. But if we did, that has grown ups. People would be like, what the heck? What do you mean? And then when people stop, they're like, oh, I don't, I don't have any cash is like, we have Venmo. And like we take we take, PayPal. We take it. It's just so funny. I tell people a lot, actually think, I channel my daughter Rylan because she just doesn't have that fear factor of rejection. She's just like, I got stuff to sell. I need you to buy it. And so she just like, we'll ask for the sale when, like, as grown ups are so timid and we don't want to come across salesy or we don't want to be pushy, so we're just like, oh, let me know if you have questions, but she'll be like an Rylan instead. She won't give you the opportunity to ask questions. She's like, here's this bracelet and I use these beads and purple's my favorite. So that's why I purples in here. Like she just starts talking about it. And normally we're so like reserved. Oh yeah, I love it. How that's when I was almost going to bring her up, because that is one of my favorite memories that pop up that you did. And she's like, wait, did you see my bracelets here. You just walked past, I have bracelets and yeah I even got some I was like oh I wonder how it looks. Just you should try it on. Try it on. It'll make you feel good. If anything you look pretty for a few minutes and it's like, okay, good, I'll buy the $2 bracelet that you that. But no fear. Like we'll be in a grocery store waiting in line to pay and she'll just turn around out of boredom and the person behind us and she'll be like, are you looking to buy or sell house? Because my mom's a real estate agent. And I'm like, sorry I didn't tell her to say that. But like, if you are, I mean, I could help you. I mean, if you want, like, no big deal. Sorry. And then they're like, oh, you know, that's cool. It is so funny. And no one's ever been offended. Yeah. And she's done it multiple times. And I always ask her, like, why do you do that? And she's like, well, you need to sell more houses. And I'm like, okay, but that's a good way into natural conversation. I will be in the grocery store buying fresh produce, and somebody behind me, oh your produce looks gorgeous. Oh for I make right ready meals in 20 minutes. Here's my card if you need that help as well. And same thing transitioning into the business. Now is oh you're a vendor. If you would like any helper to sit down and chat. Here's what I'm doing to help guide you. The biggest thing is to just feel confident in how you're showing up. And yeah, like you said, a lot of us feel like, oh, we don't want to ask for the sale. Well, we don't have to, because through all these other tips, it's going to create natural conversation. Absolutely. So when you're helping people, I want to make sure everyone understands is like, you're not just helping people with like that. We're in a business like epic. Yeah. You're helping. Like, if a winery wanted to have a booth and they're not good at it, like they don't go out to a lot of farmers markets and things like that, or a business that's selling teas or whatever. Like it doesn't have to be a multi-level marketing company, like you're helping anyone that's trying to put their product out there. People facing engaging with community. Yeah. And it doesn't even have to be product based, right? Like I've helped service based businesses just through conversation lately of, this is how you can shop at a market. This is how you can best attract someone to your booth to start that natural conversation. And besides the course that I'm offering, I also offer one on one zoom consultations, as well as testing out group consultations where I have a group of 5 or 6 business owners that sign up for a 30 minute slot kind of a round table. Yeah, like a mastermind. Yeah. So that we can sit and collaborate for 30 minutes and bounce ideas off of one another of what's your experience and how would you. I'm very solution focused. Sure. So instead of weighing on like, oh, that sucked, of course I'm going to sit in that emotion. Yeah. Even though I laugh and everything's fine, I do sit in my real emotions. But yeah, we're all human. I don't want it to seem like we're robots. And you and I laugh at everything, but that is, both of us have. That is funny. Yeah, we are hilarious. Especially after two bottles of wine. But, well, you and I do have that natural response of even when I'm scared, like at a haunted house, I'm laughing so hard because even when I'm startled, I just start laughing. You're not like me. But yeah, maybe we'll see if she hates haunted houses or anything scary. But that's my natural reaction is like instead of like, screaming, screaming or being afraid, I just start laughing. Yeah. Which then some people, then they're like, who's the crazy person? It's me. But it's just like my defense mechanism is to laugh and smile through stuff. And you're the same. Like, it doesn't mean you're not having a bad day. Yeah, but it does mean that, like, you're just responding differently. And what I was talking about at the beginning of the show today is just like all these things that have gone on, right? Like you got the rarest form of cancer that you could have gotten from a transplant, and then your business, Epicure, the mothership, shut down. You could have just been like, oh, forget it. Yeah, I'm just going to go to treatment and figure this out. But instead you're like, you know what I should do? I should help other people. I think I'd like to start a new business. You know what I should do? I should start giving tips, and maybe I should start speaking. Maybe I should start speaking and provide more joy and positivity around going through hard times. So I just want to commend you on that, because a lot of people wouldn't have won the energy even when they don't have the energy to to persevere into that space. But then also just to be like, even if you have, let's say worst case scenario, you have the seven years, right? Yeah. You're going to make the best out of the next seven years. Yeah. Possible. And I love that about you. I'm putting out there that you have 50 years because I'm not living, so do I. I'm not living here without your girlfriend. Well, and I loved the quote from, Uncle Joey on Full House. Yeah. He just went through lymphoma. There's all different kinds of lymphoma, too. But he said you can still find joy in the darkest moments. Absolutely. And that's just what I live by. Yes. I'm real. I sit with my moments of sadness, anger. But I'm also going to find something I'm grateful for each day. And going back to what you said with the rare former cancer piece that I left out is only 3% of kidney transplant patients develop this kind of cancer within usually the first seven years. Mine was on the seventh month of my seventh year anniversary. And so it's it is it is rare to have it occur, but I'm like, I'm going to beat this treatments. I just had treatment number five yesterday and one more treatment to go. And even through treatment number four, a lot of my lymph nodes in my abdomen were already cancer free. So so it's all all good news. And I've been really blessed and really lucky that my side effects have been minimal as well. So yeah, how would you give advice to somebody like a friend or a family member that's helping someone go through something like that? Like what are the things like? Obviously everybody comes from a place of how can I help? I want, you know, I care about you. Are there certain things that are like actually more helpful than others or certain statements that would help you more than others? So the biggest thing, even going through kidney stuff or any kind of thing anyone has in their life, whether it's a death, health scare or just a bad, a bad time, a bad substance, all the things is life goes on. So when the when the news breaks, everybody's like, we're here to support you. Which they are. And I believe everybody comes to you with the best of intention. So even whatever sediment they give you, if it doesn't sit right with you, they're doing it out of the best intention and purest of heart. And, and a lot of people don't know what to say. Yeah. Or don't know how to exactly or don't like. They want to be helpful and not condescending or they don't want to like act like you can't do anything. But at the same time they don't want to be like, can you do this? You know, and that's where I step in and I'm like, I am an open book. Please ask all the questions. I'm here to also educate, and I will be straight up with you about what's going on. Yeah. And my biggest piece of advice would be as time goes on. So a month or two months after whatever life event has happened, even if you have to said it, I do this personally, setting them reminder in my calendar of check in on Rochelle. Check in on so and so because that's what means the most is everybody gets back to life. Once you've had this big thing happen in your life. And those are the moments, those quiet moments that when somebody just reaches out to say, hey, I haven't chatted with you in a while, how are you doing? That's the biggest help for anybody going through any kind of time. Life is checking in. Or my other piece of advice would be if you feel you want to do an actionable item with somebody, I it's such an open ended question when you say, well, how can I help? For me, I'm like, oh, I got this, I got this, I'm good. Right? And so a lot of people are like that. They don't want to be a burden, even if it would mean a lot for someone to help you. Right? They're like, no, I want to do this for you. Yes. You're still going to be internally like, I don't want to be a burden. That's fine. I can make my own dinner. That's fine. So my best suggestion for somebody so they also don't feel like they're being too pushy would be give that person that's going through something options. Or just do it like just I know if they ask I know they need dinner. Send them a gift card like to get dinner or you can I've had somebody say I would like to cook dinner for you. Here are your options or you tell me what you want to cook. I'm going to drop it off on this date. So that may feel that you're being overbearing, but it's not because I'm not the one to say, oh yes, please, please bring me the best of the best. Yes, yes. And not just tacos, but gluten free and blah blah, blah. Yeah. So those are my two things. Check in on somebody down the road. After all the initial, shock like emotions, all those things wear off. Everybody else's lives keep moving forward, and sometimes you may feel kind of just stuck in what you're still going through or lonely like, because all of a sudden everyone's around and then no one's around. Exactly. So checking in on somebody. But that doesn't mean Nancy, we're going nowhere. Right, Nancy? Yeah. Mom's like I'm on the couch here. Yeah, yeah, I'm just the chauffeur today. But yeah, I think that's great advice, because I do think sometimes people want to be supportive. I want to show like, is it insensitive to be like, how are you feeling? Yeah. You know, I think people just get we all get in our head about stuff like they just want to be supportive and don't know how to do that appropriately because they don't know where you are at or how you're feeling or like, is it going to bother you or make you feel worse? Like, of course I felt bad. Or of course I feel great. Like, stop asking me how I'm feeling, you know, or whatever. And again, back to I am definitely raising my hand and you're giving me a look. When people are like, social media is horrible because that can be my attitude of like, but I'm about to about all I consume. So I want to consume things that are positive and uplifting under their belt. And so I just well, if I start getting in that doom scroll and it's not making me happy, I sign off. But when I share my posts on social media, it is what I'm going through. But at the same time, just like all of us, we have that wall of privacy that we also want at home. And so I will be real. Or if somebody approaches me with a one on one conversation, I am more than happy to go in depth and and detail and I think that's interesting. We kind of talked about this before, like your journey is like sometimes people want like, oh, you're just doing a highlight reel on social media. You're smiling through the pain and it's like, well, what do you want to see you. Did you want to see me crying, going through chemo? That's what you want me to post instead of like, hey, I'm doing it, I'm rocking it. I'm being happy. I got that kind of feedback when I was going through my divorce. Some people would side message me and be like, I know what's really going on, and you're just smiling through it. And I was like, well, no one wants to buy a house from a crying realtor. You want me sitting in the kitchen crying because I have been doing that. I just choose not to show that, because now I have to feed my daughter by myself, like so. I need people to buy houses, you know? But yeah, like so sometimes social media is a highlight reel, but also like, do we really want to see people in their darkest moments on social media? I look at social media as like a photo book. We don't put photos and our photo books at home of people crying or going through like really dark times. We put the highlights, the things that we really want to remember and like put focus and energy on. And I think it's great when you post like, hey, I'm at treatment and you're smiling and you're like, it is what I need this. I'm doing this today. I don't think we need to see like the behind the scenes stuff. Like you said, you're happy to have that conversation behind closed doors, but you don't have to share everything with everybody all the time. Yeah. And I get I it's it's prompted the sweetest messages even from people that I haven't talked to in a while. So again, the positive in the power of social media is it's connecting me with those of my past in different seasons of life. But they will. They'll message me and be like, how are you really doing? And I'm like, well, for the most part. But I also my side effects of the minimal, yeah, with my chemo and just everybody's body responds so differently. And your chemo cocktails are different, just like how we have different cocktails that we order in a bar, right? Yeah. And we all respond differently. Yes. Sometimes tequila is not our friend. That's just it is what it is. How would people get in touch with you? I know that you mentioned social media, website, things like that, but we will tag into the post. But any other ways people can get in tag and tag and touch with you? The best way would be through on Instagram. And it's some, simplicity underscore with underscore. There. That's a lot of underscore. Sorry. Oh yeah. Basically simplicity with Sarah Holtz on Instagram. Same on Facebook. Email is Sarah at simplicity with Sarah holtz.com. Easy now LinkedIn I have ventured into the world the link up your professional name but you're professional so and then like you said just the links that you'll include in the podcast because it is upcoming spring time. I'm hoping my big life goal I'm putting out there in the world is by August or September. Having a workshop to really prepare for, winter holiday market. Yeah, really. That's the big season. Fall market? Yeah. Most markets. Yeah. For those of us that are in the vendor circle, that's our big time game. Yeah. In the fall and winter. Thank you so much for being vulnerable and sharing your story with everybody. I appreciate you and I just enjoy chatting with you. You already know we could talk for eight hours, but. So you'll be back for sure. I will be on. You know, I've got. You haven't got rid of me yet. No. Well, cheers. And thank you for joining. Thank you, everyone for listening and watching this episode, and we hope to see you back soon. Cheers. Currently in the United States, there's over 100,000 people on the waitlist for life saving organ that can include liver, heart, lungs, and kidney. You could even be in a blood donor. You can help save lives, but also you can be a living donor for kidney transplants, bone marrow, and even your liver that saves a person's life. And also a living. Organ donation is an extended life for, say, a kidney of 14 years versus receiving a deceased organ donation. So if you have interest today in saving the life and being an organ donor, please check out websites like Donate Life America or our local Donate Life Northwest. Also on your health app, as long as you're over 18, you have the health app. On an iPhone, you can rest easy to register as a donor there or stop by your local DMV and update your driver's license to say yes. I would like to be an organ donor and save a person's life.